It's been said that Keith was upset that they toured in 2002 without a new album. He felt that it made them a nostalgia act, as opposed to a living, breathing, creating band.

He is 100% correct.

The message they sent when they decided to do Live Licks is "we are tapped out...have no new stuff and are happy to crank out the oldies in exchange for your money."

The shocking and joyous thing about ABB is that it proves that they still have it. So why the hell didn't they do ABB 3 years ago?

This tour, vs. Live Licks, has an entirely different feel. And the rabid fans like us, thank God, don't have to analyze Brown Sugar for the umpteenth time.

Boys, please: never , EVER, tour again without a new album. ABB proves you are too good for that.

Then why are they only playing the same three songs from ABB night after night ? I agree -- it's a terrific album, but they almost seem to be embarrassed by it...

I disagree with your points on the Licks tour, however. It was terrific to see them changing the setlist nightly and playing a variety of theatres, arenas and stadiums. They played a greater variety of songs than they ever have, and the result was their best tour since 1981.

Considering how good ABB is, the new tour may be their most disappointing ever based on the current setlist. But that's been discussed to death on other threads...

Agree 100% !! in away the licks tour was a mistake as much as I loved it. It only called on their past also It made unreasonable demands of the band as far as set lists go for the ABB tour,

Classic over-analysis... The Licks Tour was my favorite of all that I've attended (from 78 on). Who cares whether they has a new album? I don't give a rat's ass about their "legacy," let Mick worry about that.

I got to see them on my birthday, Oct. 31, 2002. I still smile when I drift back to that night...

bigbang Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Classic over-analysis... The Licks Tour was my
> favorite of all that I've attended (from 78 on).
> Who cares whether they has a new album? I don't
> give a rat's ass about their "legacy," let Mick
> worry about that.
>
> I got to see them on my birthday, Oct. 31, 2002. I
> still smile when I drift back to that night...


I can't argue with that, good post!

bianca,

I thought it was a bit rather disapointing not to have new product. (What a contrast from a few years earlier.

But i didn't feel disappointed after the shows at all. And Keith was having a GREAT time. Don't believe all he says!

I saw 6 shows on the Licks tour, was happy as hell with every setlist, every show, with everything essentially. It didn't make the slightest difference to me that there was no album behind the tour. I can hardly think of the Licks tour as a mistake. Don't know anyone else really who perceives it that way either.

I might be biased- I saw the Tornonto Sars show and they were tired, and suffered the ultimate indignity: AC/DC stole the show.

I don't know how or why, but they are more alive and vibrant now than they were back then.

I suppose the litmus test will be how they are in 5 months.

That's a good point, Bianca.
IMHO this is the only single mistake they made on the licks tour.
Fly overseas for the Torornto gig, though I fully respect the reasons why they did so. Mick got sorethroat afterwards and they even had to postpone one show in europe (Benidorm)
Actually, there is nothing compared to see the stones in a club. I will always have in my memory the great shows of Olimpia and Astoria. The set lists for every show were completely different every night, and that's not something easy at all. Unfortunately, they can't deliver this kind of feeling in this tour.
And after seeing them in NYC, I believe strongly that the boys are better than ever...but to me the Licks tour was something completely different from what i had previously seen. I don't regret any of the 12 shows I attended, would do it again for sure !!!

bigbang,

remember what keith said on your birthday..."Alright, L.A., Halloween night...one night of the year for you, every night of the year for me!"

Im not suprised at all that they were tiered during that Sars concert in Tronto the flew in right after a sunday show in Europe and then played on a wedenesday then flew right back to Europe.

Wrong Bianca,

All the songs they played on the licks tour that were never played live before.

Thats like hearing a new album to me.

inopeng Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> bigbang,
>
> remember what keith said on your
> birthday..."Alright, L.A., Halloween night...one
> night of the year for you, every night of the year
> for me!"

YEs, I do remember that! The crowd was great that night, too. When they flashed the Exile album cover on the screen everyone just about went nuts!

Bianca, you wrote that Keith said he felt that the lack of a new album in 2002 made them a nostalgia act, as opposed to a living, breathing, creating band but isn't that what they are now, at least from a live perspective? The terrible mistake in my view is not playing enough tunes from ABB! It's a great album and should be played live!

this tour is basically Licks Pt. 2 anyway - so what's your point?

I thought the "Licks" tour was terrific, playing the three different types of venue, and performing a swag of songs never/rarely played live to that point. I think it will go down as one of their best ever tours. Love the Licks DVD boxed set, never get sick of playing it! What did suck was the resultant double CD of the tour, a hastily cobbled together piece of work that did not reflect the variety of songs performed, with a fairly shitty booklet too. But worst of all was the butchering edit to "Rocks Off", editing out one of the most loved and revered lyrics in the whole Stones canon. That alone for me wrecked the CD ...

What was so bad about the Live Licks cd it had one disc of warhorses and the other disc was a great reflection of never before or rarley played live tunes. So all fans should have been happy with it.

bianca Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's been said that Keith was upset that they
> toured in 2002 without a new album. He felt that
> it made them a nostalgia act, as opposed to a
> living, breathing, creating band.
>
> He is 100% correct.
>
> The message they sent when they decided to do Live
> Licks is "we are tapped out...have no new stuff
> and are happy to crank out the oldies in exchange
> for your money."
>
> The shocking and joyous thing about ABB is that it
> proves that they still have it. So why the hell
> didn't they do ABB 3 years ago?
>
> This tour, vs. Live Licks, has an entirely
> different feel. And the rabid fans like us, thank
> God, don't have to analyze Brown Sugar for the
> umpteenth time.
>
> Boys, please: never , EVER, tour again without a
> new album. ABB proves you are too good for that.


I'm a bit confused.

are you talking about "40 Licks", "Licks" or "Live Licks"??

The content of your post suggests you mean "Licks" - ie, the last tour


40 Licks - compilation album
Licks - name of 2002-2003 tour
Live Licks - live album from 2002-2003 tour

Gazza Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> I'm a bit confused.
>
> are you talking about "40 Licks", "Licks" or "Live
> Licks"??
>
> The content of your post suggests you mean "Licks"
> - ie, the last tour
>
>
> 40 Licks - compilation album
> Licks - name of 2002-2003 tour
> Live Licks - live album from 2002-2003 tour

Good point. I think she does mean the Licks tour.

Regarding their fatigue at the Toronto Sars show, I was exhausted too after seeing parts of their European tour that summer where they had amazing energy night after night, and seeing them prior to that in the US. They had been touring about a year at that point. Right now, they're still at the "beginning" of the tour and just getting warmed up.

Enjoy life! Stop complaining!
Live licks, 40 licks, four flicks, the tour: it was all great fun wasn't it?

Enjoy Life! Complain all you like!

The Licks tour was a remarkable celebration of the Stones career. This current tour feels more like a re-tread than that tour. They are playing mostly warhorses this time out, as opposed to the 'anything can happen vibe' of the Licks tour. They are playing a quarter of the material from ABB, same ratio as the new material on 40 Licks on that tour. They ushered in their DVD era with the amazing 4 Flicks. The only mistakes I see are, the pointless Live Licks (tired, unnecessary, cash grab, failed in every way), and touring again so soon after that without more re-invention.

I like both tours. I wouldn't want to see them tour without a new album again, but it was cool for them to do it as a one time thing for their 40th anniversary. We got lots of variety and lots of songs they've never played before, which was very cool. And we got the club gigs, which were a once in a lifetime experience for a lot of fans (sadly, I wasn't among them, but at least I can watch a club show on Four Flicks!)

I'm also thrilled they've put out a great new album and are touring behind it. They seem reinvigorated by the new stuff, and it's awesome that they've turned the guitars up and the keyboards down. The only downside so far is they've only played four songs from the new album. I think that will change, but damn, hurry up! The rest of the setlist could use more variety as well.

We really won't be able to properly judge this tour until it's over. By the end, that might wind up playing more previously unplayed stuff than on Licks.

Live Licks for me so far, because I haven't seen A bigger bang concert, the highlight of a career.
We saw finally so many old songs we even had the chance to snap the old feeling of the theatres. I enjoyed this tour very much.
Sad thing was that they always shorten the program once they arrive in Europe coming down from 22 to 19 songs.
Playing each song 30 seconds longer just to have the same timing doens't make sense. This is what you could argue about.
Now I am off to this tour and I will be thrilled for sure

I think all the recent tours were/are great, from the time they got back together in 1989 through the present tour. I don't really care if they have a new album at the time of the tour or not, because they have a vast catalog of songs I'd love to hear anytime. I've seen them every tour since 1994, and I thought every show I attended was fantastic.

However, there is something different about this particular tour, and this perception is backed up over and over by the people who post here. Many shows have resulted in post-show postings by fans who attended many shows in the past that the show they just attended was the "best ever". There are two things that come to mind for me: (1) Mick Jagger's voice sounds so good that one really has to wonder how and why. (2) The instrument and voice mix on stage is different from all the other recent tours. The horns are turned way down so if you are not paying attention you hardly notice them, and the same goes for the vocals of Chuck, Lisa, Bernard and Blondie.

This time around you get the Stones closer to "raw" and assisted by a state of the art sound system. Imagine if they had today's sound technology when they hit the stage in 1972.